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The Hettrick Mfg. Co. was founded in 1893 (or 1891, depending on the source) in Toledo, Ohio as a manufacturer of canvas goods, largely awnings and wagon covers.

In 1921, they launched the “American Field” line of hunting garments. A bit of a late comer to the hunting game, they advertised their coats as designed by an “old timer”. Their factory was located at 1401 Summit Street, Toledo, Ohio. Unlike most of the other manufacturers of hunting clothes, Hettrick maintained their other interests after entering the hunting market, producing everything from canvas lawn chairs to tricycles.

1930s-1940s labels

1940s-1950s labels

Hettrick was purchased by the F&M Real Estate Company of Lowell, MA and in 1962, Hettrick closed its Ohio factories and moved to Statesville, NC to take advantage of the lower cost of manufacturing in the south. They moved production into the factory of the Empire Manufacturing Corp, who continued producing their own line from the same plant, with a secondary factory in Pink Hill, NC. It is unclear whether they were purchased by Empire, sources are conflicting. Empire ran a strongly anti-union shop, threatening employees in 1968 that if they unionized , they, “would do as up North, hire n. . . and put them on machines with you”. They were sued by employees, the threats were found to be unlawful and the case was used as an example in a Congressional subcommittee on labor.

1960s-1970s labels

Shortly thereafter, in 1969, American Field was acquired by the Olin Corporation, manufacturer of Winchester rifles. In 1970, the Hettrick divistion acquired the J. W. Johnson Co of Bellwood, Ill and Dickey Oakwood Corp of Oakwood, Ohio. In 1971, Hettrick merged with Comfy Seattle Co and became Trailblazer by Winchester, “managing transactions for Comfy, the Turner Co., Olin Skiis, J.W. Johnson, Dickey Oakwood”, as well as factories in Pink Hill, Statesville and one in Corcoran, California built in 1970. While Hettrick as a company was absorbed, the American Field brand continued to be produced, with production shifted to the Pink Hill plant, reflected on labels.

1970s-1990s labels

By the 1980s, the operation had been sold again, to WeatherShield Sports Equipment, Inc. (founded 1951) at Petoskey Rd. At Mercer Blvd., Charlevoix, MI. They lasted at least into the 1990s.

E.C. Cook & Bro. was founded in Chicago c.1867 by E.C. Cook (b.1845) and his brother F.W. Cook. They were manufacturers of awnings, tents, waterproof wagon,horse and truck covers, flags, banners and canvas signs. Later they expanded range to include hunters’ and tourists’ outfits, including jackets, cartridge vests, leggings, hats, gun and rifle covers, holsters, belts, cartridge belts, rod cases, and boots.

The Red Head brand name first used 1908. In 1915, a half million dollar contract for boots for the British Army was rejected and the company was forced into bankruptcy. Former employee S. Theodore Anderson, who had been with Cook since 1885 became president of the new Alward Anderson Southard Co, formed along with Charles H. Southard and Edward Hendrickson (with Cook since 1897). The new company took over the closed factory, located at 925 W. Chicago Ave, hired 100 new workers, and resumed production of the defunct Cook’s lines.

Left: 1910s, Middle: 1920s, Right: 1930s

In 1931, Theodore Anderson died and the company was taken over by his widow, Alma Anderson. The company grew and flourished under her ownership and management, opening a new factory in 1940 at 4300 Belmont Ave. and expanding employment to over 500.

Left: 1930s, Middle: 1930s-1940s, Right: 1940s-1950s

Anderson died in 1956 and the company was taken over by Clarke F. Hine. Red Head was purchased by the Brunswick Blake Collender Co, of bowling ball fame, in December 1959. Brunswick purchased the DryBak company several years later, selling both company’s similar hunting lines for a time in the 1960s.

Left: 1950s, Middle: 1960s-c1980s, Right: modern

In 1970, Red Head Brand was again sold and operations relocated to 4949 Joseph Hardin Dr Dallas, Texas.

The brand is currently owned by Bass Pro shops. They have been marketing Red Head as a “heritage brand”, though they do no market any vintage style products, and put the company’s origin in 1856, a date which has no relation anything.

Drybak was a manufacturer of hunting clothing located in Binghamton, New York with factory at 168 Water street and later 67 Frederick Street. Early articles put their founding in 1904, while later advertising claims 1900.

From a 1950 newspaper article on Drybak, largely quoting a 1930 article on the company’s early years
The, “origin of the company dates back to the turn of the century when the Dimmick-Sheldon firm moved here from Newark, NJ. The company made footballs, hunting clothing, uniforms and similar products. It was combined with a local concern, Clark & Turner Co., that made flags, tents, awnings and leggings. The reorganized Sheldon Co. shortly went into bankruptcy and Lewis M. Weed of the old James B. Weed Co. took over its assets. The name of the firm was changed to Lewis M. Weed Co. [Henry] Munger and the late Herman A. Speh bought the firm in 1922. In 1930, Haskell & Davids, Binghamton pants manufacturers and Drybak were merged.

Drybak was given its present name in 1926 in order to capitalize on the company’s trade slogan, Dry Back or Money Back.”
The firm operated in three buildings on Water Street before it was move to its present location in 1936, at which time it employed 200 workers. The Frederick Street factory, one of the most modern clothing plants in the East, was built by Dunn and McCarthy, Inc., shoe manufacturers, in 1929. The firm sold the plant to Drybak in a move to consolidate its operations at its Charlotte Street Plant.”

Labels, 1910s-1920s

In 1950, Henry Munger, who bought the firm in 1922, retired and sold his controlling shares in the company to women’s clothing company M.C. Schrank of Bridgeton, New Jersey. In late 1952, Drybak acquired noted outerwear brand, Albert Richard and shifted their manufacture previous owner Fried Ostermann’s factory in Milwaukee to one of M.C. Schrank’s factories in New Jersey with plans to eventually move production to Drybak’s factory in Binghamton. Labels were changed during that period to read, “Albert Richard by Drybak”.

Labels, 1930s-1950s. Label on the right is the most common

In a bid to lower costs, Drybak sold their Binghamton factory in 1954 to the Link Aviation Co., discontinued all operations in New York, and closed a secondary factory in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania. In 1955, Drybak acquired the Martin Mfg. Co. in Martin, TN and relocated their manufacturing to the Tennessee plant to take advantage of the lower labor costs in the south.

By 1965, Drybak had been acquired by the Brunswick Corporation of bowling alley fame and production had moved to existing Brunswick factories in Eminence, Kentucky and Chicago, Illinois. Around the same time, Brunswick had also acquired one of the other notable hunting garment companies, Red Head Brand. Production of Drybak goods continued for several years, but the brand appears to have been dropped around 1967-1968 so as not to compete with Red Head.

An extremely rough guide to union tags. There are other unions whose tags are not represented here. Companies and tailors used what tags they had on hand, so there is overlap between different patterns of tags, and there are always exceptions and flukes.

1883 (1883-?)
NRA (1933-1936)

1934 (1934-1936) Not pictured: same as 1936 and 1939 tags
1936 (1936-1939)
1939 (1939-1949)
1949 (1949-1962)
1949 variant (1962-c.1976 ) I’ve seen examples of these on menswear dated into the 1980s, despite the union merging to form the ACTWU in 1976.